Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Okay, when I got to the end of my post yesterday I realized that I moved the pieces around just a bit and added some torn distressed drywall tape to look like fishing net before I glued it all down. Soooo, here is the real finished version. Thanks for looking!

This picture was taken with my phone instead of my new camera, but I think it still shows off how cool this turned out! Thanks again for looking and for the kind comments and messages I've been receiving!

So, my 22nd wedding anniversary was this last weekend and I wanted to make something unique for my husband. I occurred to me that I still hadn't tried the Amazing Mold Putty I bought at CHA soooooo.... Here's what I came up with.

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Because we live near the beach, we tend to have a lot of ocean/beach type decor in and outside of our home. I had this wooden box with four coasters in it and thought I would create something for my husband's bamboo bar. And, since he likes mermaids, I thought this would be a fun addition. I created the mermaid, the dolphin brooch and the broken sand dollar type flower by making molds and casting resin. Below are some step-by-step pictures along with some instructions on how I achieved the patina on this piece. Please feel free to message with any questions.

I started with this simple wooden box and three shapes I wanted to cast for the top.

After mixing the Amazing Mold Putty in equal parts (like playdoh - really easy) I pressed in my shapes (or in the case of the mermaid I molded the putty around the mermaid). I let sit about 10 minutes and voila . . . molds! It really is fun to create a mold and know you can make the item over and over again. The possibilities with making my own scrapbooking embellishments are mind-boggling!

Once I had the molds, I tried my hand at the resin. I did the mermaid first to make sure I mixed enough. Next I poured the brooch. I think I took too long making sure I got all of the edges of the brooch covered because when I went to pour the metal flower it was kind of gooey and chunky . . . but guess what? I used it anyway and loooove the way it came out; it's kind of organic looking (sort of like a broken sand dollar I think). So here are my three pieces.

I painted everything with a coat of black acrylic paint (including the wood pieces) and then everything again with some orange/coppery paint (just dry brushed here and there).

After the orange I dry brushed some dark teal green on everything.

Then a coat of sea foam (watered down a bit so as not to be so opaque) on everything.

I finished it off with some gold rub on the edges and raised areas of all pieces. I placed them where I wanted them and then then glued them on all with some E6000 glue.

I hope you try something like this yourself. You will be amazed at what you can do!

Ooops! I just realized that after I finished I thought it needed one more thing. I did the same paint technique on some drywall tape and added some torn pieces of it underneath and sticking out to look like fishing net. I will post an updated picture of that (I have to take it back and take another picture - lol).

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

This post is a follow-up on our Cub Scout arrow project, for the boys who couldn't make it and are just putting kit together on their own.

The pictures I had on my phone did not have the added coup feather at the end, so I cut all of the boys out of a picture (last pic) so you can see where it's attached. Below are some basic written instructions to go with the picture. You will need black electrical tape (or whatever color you want to use); it is not included in the kit.

I fitted each arrowhead to the arrow it is with. If it feels too snug, don't force it (I soaked all of the arrow tips in water for a couple of hours so they would be more pliable - try soaking it if necessary). Holding the arrow upright between your knees you can fit the arrowhead and secure it with electrical tape (see photo below). If you want to set in with hot glue first you can, but we didn't do that at the meeting.

Next, turn the arrow over and work on the back end. The feathers (fletchings) are trimmed so that there is a thin piece of the feather vein with no feather on each end. Line those up on the arrow and secure them with more electrical tape (see photo below) (you can cover the tape with leather cord if you choose but we did not do this at the den meeting).

My faux snakeskin that I thought I was soooooo brilliant creating (can you hear my sarcasm?), turned a bit brittle and flaky so that when the boys wrapped it the color started flaking off. My suggestion is (if you don't have a heat embossing tool) to cover it in a thick layer of Elmer's glue and let it dry to make it pliable (hopefully) before using it. It is metal plumbers tape and can be applied by removing the backing and wrapping the middle of the arrow shaft. We finished the edges with electrical tape.

If you do, indeed, have a heat embossing tool just run it over the top to heat it up a bit to reconstitute it to make it pliable again. Make sure you use it as soon as it starts to cool. I made my sample right after cooling at it hasn't flaked at all.

The add-on coup (coo) feather is pre-made and needs to be secured by tying it just below the fletchings. This is that really bad phone picture I mentioned, from which I cropped all of the boys and enlarged the feather - so don't critique the photo, just use it for your sample! lol. If I remember later I will replace it with a better photo, but in case you are already working on it, I wanted to have instructions ready.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

I love, love, love these mini albums! I made these after watching a tutorial from angelwings14100 on youtube - she does a fab tutorial with measurements so you can totally recreate this album with ease. I had no trouble at all figuring out how to do it. Here is a link to her tutorial (but check out all of her tutorials, she has some other great ones as well!): Angel Wings Mini Tutorial

I'm hoping to get pics of the insides too, but I have to put one in the mail tomorrow to get there for Mother's Day, so we'll see . . .

Ignore the other project in the backgound, this was a quick pic I took with my phone this morning. I have some really good ones with my camera, but I was so excited to share them that I couldn't wait to upload those - lol.

She does a great ball chain binding on these. My ball chain I ordered from ebay hasn't come in yet, so I just used some chain and jump rings and it seems to work just fine. Thanks for looking!

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I can't promise to post often and I can't promise to post well, but I let's just see how this blog goes.

I've made attempts to blog before and get busy and; well, just forget to do it. Sooooo, I am going to make every attempt to keep some sort of record of my scrapbooking projects. Every time I create a gift or an item that I sell and don't keep pictures, I kick myself, so let's just see if I can keep track of those items here! I hope you find some little tidbit of inspiration in something I create or someone else's creation that I showcase. With that being said . . . Go Forth and CREATE!